Acoustical and thermal insulators and liners for application to vehicles are well known in the art. These insulators typically rely upon both sound absorption, e.g., the ability to absorb incident sound waves and transmission loss, and the ability to reflect incident sound waves, in order to provide sound attenuation. Convention flooring solutions also rely upon thermal shielding properties to prevent or reduce the transmission of heat from various heat sources (e.g., engine, transmission and exhaust system) to the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
Over the years a number of adhesives, adhesive webs and binding fibers have been specifically developed to secure the various layers of the laminates together, however laminated flooring system still have an inherent risk of delamination and failure. The potential is, in fact, significant mainly due to the harsh operating environment to which vehicle flooring systems are subjected.
Additionally, conventional flooring designs, e.g., SKYDEX™ flooring, have been developed to replace less effective cushioning and protective products used in traditional flooring solutions. Unfortunately, these purely twin hemispherical designs have drawbacks, especially in situations where the force is not “normal,” e.g., non-linear.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a flooring solution that can provide an adequate cushioning response while at the same time an ability to alleviate non-linear forces.